Newspaper-vending machine



A. A. MEYER NEWSPAPER VENDING `MCHINE oct. 11, 1921. 1,645,442

' Filed Nov. 12. 1924 s sheets-'sheet 2 1645442 A. A. MEYER NEwsPAPE VENDING MACHINE Filed Nov. l2. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 11, 1927.

UNI-rsu 1 s'raizes` ALCD A. MEYER, or* MINNEPOLS, MINESOTA.

NEWSPAPER-veniamo MACHINE.

Appnanon'ied Nore'mbei- 12, 1924i serial no. 749,426." i

This invention relatesto certain ii'nprov'eL ments'in coin controlled vending machines; and the objects and'nature of the invention will Lbe readily understood'by those skilled i in the-'art in the light oi' the following eX,- plana'tion of the accompanying drawings that illustrate' what I now believe to be the preferred mechanical expression or embodiment of my invention from among'other forma-constructions and arrangements within the spirit and scope of the invention.-

An obj-eet o'i the invention is to provide 'a comparatively simple and eilioient appa ratnssf an improved character for retailing newspapers and other articles of merchandise-under the control of the purchaser through the insertionof a coin or `coins or other token or tokens;

- With this and other objects in viewy my invention consists in certain novel 'features of construction and in combination and arrangements as more fully and particularly setY 'forth and pointedou't hereinafter.

Referring to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof:

Fig. l, is a side elevation of a newspaper vending machine embodying my invention,

dotted lines indicating certain hidden parts.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine. Fig. 3 is a detail vertical `section on an enlarged scale. i

Figul is a detail sectional View.

Fig. 5 is a sectional front elevation taken in the plane of the line '5-5, Fig. y3.

The particular embodiment of my invention illustrated comprises a drum rotatable on a horizontal shaft or axis 4', and 'this drum is made up of end A heads or plates 4a with intervening radial pocket-sv lor receptacles 2 open at their outer 'endsthrougli the rim or periphery of the drum: e

These pockets are preferably similar in forni, construction, andftliinensions and are' uniformly spaced apart and form al circle completely around `the drum.

In the particular example illustrated these pockets are peculiarly designed to receive newspapers b' in Vsuch e manner that the pockets'can be filled by inserting a new-spa'-A per iin each pocket a's the pockets are in an upright position with their 4open ends uppern'iost andy so that the newspapers' will slide by gravity from the pockets when in a downwardly inclined position with the open ends of thepockets at the under vside of the drum. Each pocket is designedl to rev ceiVe one liewsp'aper.'eL H The i'iews'papers are retainedun v"the pockets until Veach poelretreaehestlie deliy ery or discharge. station, by the rimA portion of a suitable housing. For i'ns'tanceg'lshow a housing consisting of vertieal'endtplats 6, 7, that can be extendeddownwardly-to form the sfi'ippoi'fting'base of theinachinf; These end 4platesV 6 andi' are conneetedb'y a rim 5 covering the rim of the rotary-drinn or carrier and usually concentrictlierewithi The housing 'at the upper portion of 4the rim 5 is preferably formed" with a charging or loading opening 11 through whichl Athe pockets 2 canbe chargedfwith ne'wspa ers as these pockets are successively bro'ughtinto alineinent with the opening. This opening is normally closed by a cover 13.

The lower front portion of 'the housingis Alorined with ard-ischarge or dispensing opening, such as 12 through'A therim portion' 5 of the housing through which the newsp'a"u pers can be discharged'froni the'pockets2 e by gravity as the pockets' pass successively into 'alinement with said opening'12.

opening12 during the operation of 'charging the'drum or carrier with l'newspaqbers through the opening 111. Y

This `door or. cover 14 is normally held, after the drum has been Chargedwithznews' papers, vin the open position as shown in Figs; 1,y 2 and 3. A Y

The housing is preferably .provided with a suitable holder yor table 15 to receivexthe A cover '14 is provided for Vfclosinlg 'the l newspaper dischargedv fromv a pocket This holderilfcan be in the formof 'a downwardly. inclined and forwardly curvedplate ask shown inore'par'ticularly in Fig. 3 onto which vthe newspaper from a pocketwi'll slide downwardly and forwardly; the ycurva'- ture being suffi-cient to holdthe newspaper against dropping from the holder,

A suitably manually operated means' is provided to feed the drum'forwardl a stroke under certain conditions. Q Y For instance,y I show a lever 8 freely mountedfon the shaft/1 to normally oscillante thereon independently of the' drum and without .rotating the drum. 'This lever is arranged rbeyond one end `of the'fdruln and within the housing and projeetsorwardiy and upwardly'l from the housing througlrslot 10 the rimy 5 fof the housing. V.The pioject ll O ing exposed upperv end of the lever forms a handle. Thisy lever is acted on by suitable means to constantly tend to hold its handle end at its limit of upward movement. For instance, I show the lever provided with counterweight 9 for this purpose.

The ends of the slot 1l) torni the limits of up and down movement of the lever 8, and the length of the slot l0 is approximately equal to the distance between two adjacent pockets 2.

The lever 8 is normally swingable the distance prescribed by the slot 1.0, independently of the drum or carrier that embodies the pockets 2, and suitable coin controlled mechanism is provided for operatively connecting t-he lever and the drum through the medium of a coin, so that when the coin is present, downward stroke o" the lever will advance the drum an operative step, namely; the approximate distance between two adjacent pockets, to move an empty pocketrfrom registration with the discharge station 12 and to brine' a loaded poclret into registration with saidd l Y ie-,rg0 station l2 so that 4the newspaper in the last named pocket will drop by gravity onto the holder 15.

In the particular embodiment illustrated the lever 8 is formed or provided with a lateral pin 2O projecting` toward the adjacent end of the drum, and the adjacent end of the drum is provided with a circular series of similar uniformly spaced radially arranged coin receptacles 3.

The series of coin receptacles 3 corresponds't-o the series of newspaper pockets 2, and the coin receptacles are spaced, in this embodiment, a distance equal to the spacing of the newspaper pockets. ltwill hence be noted that there is a coin receptacle for each pocket 2. l

Each coin receptacle is arranged on the outer side face of the end head of the drum adjacent the lever 8, and each pocket is open at its outer end so that the outer open ends of these coin receptacles are successively passed into registration with the coin slot 19 through the rim 5 of the housing and adjacent to the slot 10 that limits the swingofthe lever 8.

After each operative stroke or step of the drinn, the. drum comes to rest with coin. receptacle 3 alined with the co-in slot 19 in position to receive coins through said slot.

The coin. receptacles arel traversed by alined slots 3a. Each coin receptacle is formed with a slot 3a intermediate its length and these slots are all concentric with the longitudinal anis of the shaft li. ln other words, the Vslots forni segments of a circle the center of which isV the anis or ful Crum ofthelver- 1 These Slots 3?V are lof 4the saineY radius `as the pin 2O of the lever 8 with respect to the axis il, so that the path of movement of the pin 2O when the lever 8 lswings is coincident with the circle in which the slots 3 are located. Hence vertical swing of the lever 8 does noi move or cause rotation of the drum inasmuch as the pin 2O moves freely through the slots when these slots are unobstructed.

These slots are so arranged, however, that when the purchase price of a newspaper, in the4 form of a coin or coins a is inserted through the coin slot 19 and allowed to drop into the coin receptacle 3 under said slot, such coin or one of such coins will traverse and obstruct the slot 3 so that when the lever 8 is swung down its pin 2O will engage the coin and advance the drum an operative step to cause discharge of a paper onto the holder 15.

lllh-en the lever isswung down, it engages the lower end of the slot 10 and moves the drum forward but one step. When the lever is released the weight 9 causes the lever to swing back to normal position against the upper end of the slot.

Any suitable coin box 16 is provided at the lower end of the housing preferably depending froin the rim 5 in registration with an opening through lsaid rim, so that the coins can drop from the receptacles 3 into the coin box as said receptacles reach the lower part ofthe drum.

ln the particular' embodiment illustrated each coin receptacle is formed of a longitudinal depth with a closed inner end and of such cross sectional dimensions as to require the presence of two coins, such as two pennies, to bring about the operative connection between the handle lever 8 and the drum as to cause a forward newspaper delivering step of the drum on operation of the handle. However, my invention is not so limited as the formation of each coin receptacle can be varied according to the price of the newspaper.

For the purpose of preventing overthrow of the drum, any suitable brake or other mechanism is provided kto prevent movement of the drum except under the driving act-ion of the hand lever.

For instancel show a suitable brake consisting of a bralre block 22 held in frictional engagement with an end of the drum by a spring 23 in a tube or cap 1"? projecting from the end wall of the drum housing;

lt is obvious that my invention is not limited to the particular embodiment 'disclosed for ldispensing newspapers, as the machine can be adapted for carrying and dispensing various articles of merchandise.

lt is evident that various changes, modifications and variations might be resorted to, that features Y inightmbej added or parte omitted,y all without. departing "from, the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not Wish to limit myself to the exact disclosures hereof:

What I claim is:

In combination, a rotary drum formed with a series of longitudinally disposed radially arranged pockets therearound open at their outer ends for reception and discharge of articles to be dispensed, a housing for said drum providing a discharge station for successive gravity discharge of said pockets, a shaft extending through said housing on which said drum is rotatably mounted, a series of coin holders radially arranged on one end of said drum in the transverse plane thereof, one holder for each longitudinal pocket, said holders having their outer ends open. said housing providing a coin slot from which said holders are arranged to successively receive coins as the drum is advanced step by step, a manuallyoperable lever rotatably mounted on said shaft Within the` housing adjacent the coin holders and sWingable independentl of the drum, said lever extended radially rom the shaft outwardly through and accessible for operation on the exterior of said housing Which forms a stop limiting movement thereof, said coin holders slotted and arranged so a coin therein obstructs such slot, and said lever provided With a laterally projecting pin arranged to pass freely through the slots of the coin holders upon operation ot' said lever but to engage across the edge of a coin obstructing a slot to advance the drum a step and place a pocket in discharge position With said housing discharge station, the inner end of said lever Weighted to return and maintain the same in normal position after operationr thereof.

Signed at Minneapolis, Minnesota, this 27th day of October, 1924.

' ALCID A. MEYER. 

